Lady salvages $1 slab of broken marble, cleaving it into a gem for her desk

Lia Blanchard

Contributing Writer

Christine Kobzeff / YouTube

Decorating your home with accents of natural stone and metal doesn't have to cost a fortune. A combination of knowing where to shop and when to fake it makes it easy to get the look you love, and Modern Bohemian Lifestyle shows you how.

One of the projects on the video below shows how Christine Kobzeff turned a $1 slab of marble from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore into a gorgeous display tray for a desk or dresser.

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Kobzeff uses a hammer to shape the marble, breaking off unwanted edging with the head and prying away leftover residue — in her case, old caulking and shims — with the claw.

To create a "more rugged look," Kobzeff uses a ball-peen hammer to knock off the tops of the edges. She alternates this technique with sanding to get the edges exactly the way she wants them. Finally, she polishes the marble with 400-grit wet-dry sandpaper.

Kobzeff wanted a look that implied a solid "gold nugget" with white marble interior, so she uses a gold leaf rub-on metallic finish on the edges. She brushes two coats of the finish onto the sides, then uses her finger to apply the color slightly over the edge to create the impression of a gold "crust."

With bumpers on the bottom, the polished marble with gold edges becomes a gorgeous accent tray, perfect for a desk, dresser or vanity.

The video demonstrates every step in the process and includes several other ways to use metallic finishes as accents in your home.